Emmett McDonnell insists the mood in the Offaly camp remains upbeat, despite their narrow defeat to Limerick three weeks ago and a season-ending injury to star forward Anton Sullivan.

The Faithful need to bounce back from that setback against Mick O'Dwyer's Clare at O'Connor Park on Sunday if they are to remain in contention for promotion from Division 4 of the Allianz League.

"Losing by a point is never easy. We had chances to equalise or win," the Offaly manager told the Midland Tribune.

"Morale is good. Players are a bit frustrated at losing, especially the Limerick game. We had chances to win and let it slip. We missed chances and conceded sloppy frees.

"While we lost to Kildare (O'Byrne Cup), Limerick and Laois (Leinster U21), we were competitive in all games. It is about getting the job done when we have chances and we have to learn from our defeats."